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Purbalingga Organic Ant Sugar Enters the Yunani Market.
Wednesday (24/6/2020), 13 tons of organic palm sugar produced by farmers who are members of the Sumber Rejeki Joint Business Group (KUB) from Ponjen Village, Karanganyar District were shipped to Yunani
Jakarta, Portonews.com – The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) through the Directorate General of Plantations continues to encourage the potential of organic products so that they can penetrate the international market.
This is in line with the direction of the Minister of Agriculture (Mentan), Syahrul Yasin Limpo, to develop organic-based agriculture which has been intensified in other countries. According to him, farming with an organic system will improve the quality of healthier agricultural production.
“The organic farming approach makes it healthier, of higher quality, and becomes an option in existing markets,” said the Minister of Agriculture during a working visit in Denpasar, last January.
The Director General of Plantations at the Ministry of Agriculture, Kasdi Subagyono, said that Indonesia has a large enough opportunity and potential for organic products to compete and attract international markets. “This potential must be supported by the right production and marketing strategies. Currently the trend of consuming healthy food is increasing, many consumers at home and abroad want organic products because when they are consumed they are healthier for the body,” he said.
One of the organic agricultural products currently in demand by foreign markets is ant sugar from Purbalingga, Central Java. Last Wednesday (24/6/2020), 13 tons of organic palm sugar produced by farmers who are members of the Sumber Rejeki Joint Business Group (KUB) from Ponjen Village, Karanganyar District were shipped to Yunani.
Exports to a country known as the land of the gods is able to increase the income of farmers. KUB Sumber Rejeki’s organic palm sugar is priced higher with a difference of IDR 5,000 per kilogram from the price in the local market. The farmers from Purbalingga can earn Rp. 312 million of the 13 tons of organic granulated sugar exported to Yunani.
According to the Director of Plantation Protection at the Ministry of Agriculture, Ardi Praptono, this organic palm sugar exported to Greece has been certified organic with European Union standards. “To facilitate the financing of organic palm sugar certification, the Directorate General of Plantations is carried out by the Co-Administration Fund to the Agriculture and Plantation Service of Central Java Province,” he said.
KUB Sumber Rejeki, added Ardi, is one of the directors of the Directorate General of Plantations in the activities of Plantation Commodity-Based Organic Agriculture Villages. The area of organic coconut plantations managed by KUB Sumber Rejeki reaches 28.6 hectares and is managed by 188 farmer families.
“One of the objectives of the Plantation-Based Organic Farming Village activity is to increase the added value of organic commodities and target local and export market shares,” he said.
In these activities, said Ardi, coaching, mentoring, providing production inputs and organic certification to plantation farmer groups that are cultivated organically.
“Hopefully with the export of organic palm sugar, it can improve the welfare of coconut farmers in Purbalingga,” he said.